1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a system and method of enhancing library usage by library patrons while enhancing patron knowledge and experience while protecting their privacy.
2. Description of Related Art
One common business technique utilized today by vendors of goods, particularly those providing such goods over the Internet, is to offer the purchaser similar goods to those being purchased on the assumption that it is likely that the purchaser has an affinity for or interest in goods of that type. One well known example of such a business is Amazon.com, wherein a purchaser of a book or some other product will be presented with offers for books or products of a similar nature or genre to the book/product being purchased. For example, if the purchaser purchases a camera he/she may be presented with an offer for camera accessories, such as lenses. This affinity-based vending technique is also used in the rental field. For example, Netflix.com rents videos to its customers and presents the customers with other videos that its system considers the renter would be interested in renting.
Both of these types of prior art businesses operate under a commercial relationship with their customers that demands customer payment upon product purchase or lease. Moreover, these systems recommend the products to be purchased or leased based on historical transactions. Their related products' marketing information is not provided and would not be acceptable as constructed in a borrowed asset environment, for example, a library. Also, their marketing information is solely directed towards in-store products that they sell, and does not consider third party programs, training, expertise, services or products, since such outside products are considered counterproductive to their competitive interest. Moreover, these services do not provide any additional content to its users, but merely promote existing content. These systems are also invasive as they recommend their existing content automatically and without customer consent. Further, these Internet sales and movie rental systems promote their existing content based on the specific identification of the purchased or leased asset. Such specific identification consists of the title and author of books/media, or the title, director, and actors of films. Moreover and quite significantly, these systems also require and track the identification of the purchaser/leaser and the asset's title, thereby raising privacy concerns in the public.
Another type of affinity-based vending technique utilized by businesses is to provide to purchasers of goods promotional coupons for other similar or related goods. For example, Catalina Marketing has a system (e.g., In-Store PrintsSM at http://www.catalinamarketing.com, hereinafter referred to as “The Catalina Coupon System) that operates for and within supermarket and drug stores. The Catalina Coupon System generates a coupon for patrons at points of sale based on the Universal (UPC) of items purchased. That is, the Catalina Coupon System relies on the UPC of the product(s) purchased to identify the product and trigger the generation of a related promotional coupon within the product family. Moreover, the Catalina Coupon System maintains a history of consumer purchasing behavior that is used to determine if a consumer is a target to receive a particular offer. Thus the Catalina Coupon System and similar systems used in grocery stores are invasive and operate in a purchase only environment.
While the above described systems for vending goods or services are generally suitable for their intended purposes they all suffer from various drawbacks. For example, they do not provide a non-invasive environment (e.g., they require and track personal information about the consumer and do so without giving the consumer any choice as to whether the data about him/her will be saved). Further still, such systems do not provide any opportunities or benefits outside the specific product family. Further yet, such systems do not provide an opportunity to visit an opt-in environment (e.g., a website) where the patrons can view information and expertise, learn about and obtain tickets for events and programs of interest to the patrons and receive promotional values based on the patron's demonstrated areas of interest.
Traditionally libraries have not made use of effective marketing techniques to promote their services. Thus, in order to fulfill their mission of public service, to provide value as a community center and to better compete for patron attention and loyalty, today's libraries must do more than provide access to printed materials. Libraries commonly circulate videos, CDs, DVDs, journals, subscriptions, databases, archival material, and even books on MP3 players. In addition, nearly 50% of library visitors use public PCs to access the Internet during their visit. Many libraries also provide meeting rooms for public use and even cafes or coffee shops to enhance the patron experience. Beyond access to materials and resources, educational and social events have become important services provided by the libraries of today. In fact, research by the American Library Association has shown that programs such as “how to” sessions, book groups, and teen nights are essential to increasing patron visits to libraries.
While librarians are experts at information management, most are not trained in program development or marketing. As a result, the level of programs offered varies greatly from library to library. Some libraries offer rich programs of educational and entertainment events. Others have little beyond children's reading programs. Attendance at in-library events has a direct correlation to the number of patron visits and circulation levels. Both are critical metrics for library funding initiatives and the perception of the library within its community.
Most libraries also do a poor job of promoting their programs to patrons. Many facilities simply post announcements in the library—you have to visit the library to know what is available. Those with electronic calendars force patrons to wade through pages of programs in numerous topics to find something of value to the patron. Organizations outside of the library do not consider the library as a medium for promotion because of this inability to reliably reach people with their message.
Existing library cataloging methods (Dewey Decimal, Library of Congress) are not suitable to fill the gap of effectively matching patrons to areas of their interest, so the inventors defined the categories of interest and created the system described below for mapping library item barcodes to their defined categories. The existing library catalog system used by the Library of Congress is too specific to meet the breadth of interest related to individual books. For example, book subject matter is often too granular and not lifestyle oriented. In other words, the existing library categories are not based on user needs, as they do not associate the narrow topics of books with broader categories aligned with the general interest of patrons.
Libraries have a need for tools to provide better, more relevant programs to patrons and to promote deliverables (e.g., programs, expertise, information, promotional values, etc.) to their patrons who would be most interested in them. The subject invention is directed to that end and fulfills that goal, while protecting the privacy of its patrons. In addition, the subject invention enables other entities to sponsor library programs and to gain some commercial benefit from such sponsorship.
All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.